was a suspect in

and asked me questions in the same flat voice he had used for his vows. Who had I spoken to. Had I been in the kitche

t the end, "I would not have kno

my trust," he s

your trust. I

oked at Cole, and Cole shrugged,

hat was the

eone knocked on

n you are not sure you want an answer. I opened the door a hand's width. Elias st

ter your room," he sai

otic

ing, and nothing is owed to you, and then nobody can ever hold anything over your head. That

re we

looked angry about it, truly angry, the way someone looks when they have f

the ledger and the open fours and the note under the pen. In the end, I asked for the small

en every morning," I sai

enuinely surprised expression

t doesn't smell

e said after a long mo

in

th his back to me. "You looked at that waiter b

e everyone smiles," I said.

. I closed the door and leaned on it an

ater, and Mira Varga was sitting at the table in the dark

" she

ather

ward me anyway. Up close she looked ti

Then the air left me. "The pen. T

that wasn't there. "I saw you with that old ledger on Tuesday. I saw your face. You found s

tel

e and your father's voice and the way your uncle brought flowers to the funeral. I would like you gone fro

cup in both hand

owski has been here thirty-one years and cried at my father's funeral harder than I did. That leaves

ld you w

I don't know," she s

a guard on the far wall and my hands buried in my sleeves, trying to decide whether to t

w, cracked an inch for ventilation. I

and very easy to recognize. "She read page

o

other." Another pause, longer, and then a quiet, almost gentle la

mmering in my ears and the ice